Former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova moved smoothly into the US Open quarter-finals on Monday, profitting from a bottom half of the women's draw that has been blown wide open. The 22-year-old Russian, who was an upset US Open winner in 2004, defeated fast-rising 18-year-old Victoria Azarenka of Belarus 6-2, 6-3.
Next up is another 18-year-old in the shape of Agnes Szavay of Hungary, who defeated Julia Vakulenko of Ukraine 6-4, 7-6 (7/1) in another early fourth-round tie. Also through to her second Grand Slam quarter-final went Israel's Shahar Peer, who defeated defending champion Maria Sharapova's conqueror, Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland.
Peer won comfortably 6-4, 6-1 and will play Russian sixth seed Anna Chakvetadze who saw off 16-year-old Austrian prodigy Tamira Paszek 6-1, 7-5. Kuznetsova is the highest-ranking player left in a lopsided lower section of the draw which has seen the early departures of defending champion and second seed Maria Sharapova and seventh seed Nadia Petrova, both Russians.
In contrast, the top half contains most of the big names with the quarter-finals already set opposing top seed Justine Henin against Serena Williams and third seed Jelena Jankovic against Venus Williams.
"I am just trying to take it game by game and not bothering about people saying I am the favourite," she said. "I am getting better in every match and feel very confident. Kuznetsova, one of the most consistent players on the WTA Tour this year, had little to do in the first set as Azarenka dug her own grave by spraying her groundstrokes wide and long.
Azarenka started to find her touch to break the Russian's serve at the start of the second set, but Kuznetsova replied by stepping up her own game to level. The Russian then cracked a crosscourt forehand winner to break for a second time in the eighth game of the set.
A nervy Kuznetsova let four match points get away on her serve in the following game, but converted at the fifth attempt with a deft serve and volley. "She was making so many unforced errors in the first set and it was hard to stay focused. She was missing all over the place. Maybe she was nervous," the Russian said. Szavay, who has emerged only in the last few months with a WTA Challenger tournament win in Palermo, was the more solid in a tight first set against Vakulenko, who at 24 was by far the oldest player left in the bottom half of the draw.
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